Whetstone Viaduct on The Great Central Railway
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- Опубликовано: 22 июн 2020
- Please watch: "The Most Beautiful Closed Railway in the UK? Scarborough to Whitby Railway Episode 2"
• The Most Beautiful Clo... -~-
Whetstone Viaduct on The Great Central Railway
Today we explore the 13 arch brick Viaduct on the former Great Central Railway GCR closed since 1969
In a lovely quiet area around 5 miles from Leicester, nestled within a flood plain between a railway and a canal.
We get up top, have a walk over and below as well as a little drone footage.
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Lived in whetstone 1974. Parents had the P. O backed onto the station. Used to climb on the station roofs with my friends. Spent many an hour on our bikes up and down the line.
I can remember fishing on the canal under that railway bridge (we use to cut through from Glen Parva)when I was a young kid. My grandad took me on a steam train from Great Central street station (just up the road from where he lived in woodgate)up to Nottingham for the day in about 1966. My Great Grandad was a signalman just off Hospital Lane near Fosse Road Leicester (West Bridge to Glenfield tunnel)
Lovely upload ,when i walked the GCR in the 80's no bushes, no graffiti ,this line should have been HS2 as most still exists
I agree that it should be used again, even as the HS2 alternative. I'd like to think i can visit other sections as there is so much history to this line :)
I'd love to see it re-open too. I think however that unless the very small towns on the old route see giant population booms I think it's incredibly unlikely, as the big cities already have the midland and west coast mainlines
Agree. But this would be far too logical for the powers that be. Isn't it funny how the Tories are chucking money at HS2 like there's no tomorrow (literally billions) but have pretty much been anti rail since the early 60's, and won't invest properly in the existing rail network. Just typical. The story of the GCR is heartbreaking. It would have been ideal for high speed trains.
*Built on Continental Gauge as well.*
*It would cost many Billions, but a fraction of the cost of HS2 £100 Billion + but does not go to Birmingham.*
I grew up on the housing estate on the other side of the railway line, my dad used to bring me to walk the dog in the flood planes and go up to the viaduct as a child. Great memories and the video bought them all back to me
I grew up in the narborough road area in the 60's and had an aunt who lived on Lambert road....as kids all us lot used to go down Marlow road and watch the trains down in the cutting...now filled in years ago ....I can vividly remember the last of the trains ( DMU's).. running till mid 1969... Great memories of the great Central....I can remember when in the early 70's the cutting was designated as a public tip to help fill it all in .....very sad indeed.....
Interesting... I always remember the GCR when I go under the motorway bridge over the M1. I last went through Whetstone on the last day of through services to Marylebone 03/09/1966 behind 35030 Elder Dempster Lines.
I stood in those refuges as a kid in the late 1950's as steam hauled trains roared by, walked over and under that viaduct and tried fishing in the Sence underneath it.
Been watching a few of your videos...I've always been interested in Railways old and new, the closure of the GCR was a criminal act as it ran through the centre of both Nottingham and Leicester, what we would do for that now!! Plus no level crossings till near Sheffield. Should have been HS2.
A beautiful structure so sad to see it graffitied and vandalised. Many thanks Ant for taking us to these magical forgotten places.
It’s art? Also it’s legal? What’s your problem
@@Unkown_usernam3Art!!!!!🤨🤮 unsightly mess🤬
The smaller bridge carried the track to Colliers farm and then over the canal and into Peewit hollow, which has been filled in
I remember when the bridge over the canal at the end of viaduct was pulled down. It was demolished because the local kids used to ride there scrambler motorbikes across it to gain access to the old blaby brick works quarry on the other side. (now been landfilled 1980s) formerly known as butterly brick works. As a kid I remember there being a rope swing tied onto the old bridge my friend fell off it & punchered his lung.
What a beauty! Thanks for another fantastic video!
Many thanks! It's a lovely little structure, i'm glad i went to find it :)
A fascinating view of the Viaduct and the gorgeous surrounding countryside. I look forward to the canal video too, it looks like an interesting walk.
It's one I want to do starting at the River Soar by Ratcliffe Power Station but I need to do the Trent and Mersey.... Decisions.... 🙂
Another great video, Ant.
I think viaducts are things of beauty, more interesting than cathedrals to me.
So many viaducts have been demolished, supposedly because they were unsafe.
The Loudounhill viaduct was supposed to be unsafe, it took at least three attempts to blow it up!
It was a 13 arch in Grey engineering brick, beautifully constructed on the Darvel to Strathaven line.
The Great Central was the HS2, built for speed and to continental loading gauge, such a bad decision to close it.
I do love viaducts probably more than tunnels. The GCR should still be here as most would agree. Funnly enough i had a moment of thought only this morning where i was following a part of the Great Northern Friargate Line where it comes accross the GCR outside of Nottingham. 2 great routes that could and should still be here :)
All track got lifted up from rugby all the way to Scotland all for the m1 under Marples and beaching
Thanks for the video and chat. Cheers Ant!.
Nice walls...nice peaceful spot ....Railways are just like honey for Graffiti...as are canals to a lesser extent...Anything railway within a few miles of places like Leicester, Sheffield, Nottingham is going to be plastered with Graff...and large good walls like here?...definitely gettin hammerd...im thinking of going there now if it wasnt 80 mile away.
Yes, true. Its a nice one that never really seems to get much attention from the railway world. It seems almost forgotten :(
Another great upload, thank you 😊
Gets a big double thumbs up from this Leicester lass 👍🏻👍🏻
Yay thanks so much 😀❤️
Great stuff, I always wanted to see this structure and I will one day. When you were at the canal and looking northward the old GCR formation continues after some more scrub as the great central way and is a foot/cycle path which leads into Leicester city centre👍🏴
You should!
I'll have a look at the cycle path as i'll be back soon to do the canal. Glad you enjoyed it as always :)
Great video Ant,everywhere so green and fresh,nice day for the walk too.xx
It was a nice day, just the right temperatures for me lol
Fantastic video that brought back many memories!
I grew up on Newby Close, a 10 minute walk from this viaduct and walked along it many many times when I was younger. Our old family dog once mistakenly jumped off it through the gap you’ve filmed and fell down to the dirt track below (he was a little stupid so we think he just didn’t realise he was so high up. He landed in a muddy puddle below miraculously unscathed!)
There’s also the remains of a tunnel structure in the undergrowth of the field next to it that I always wondered about when I was younger, after watching this it’s clear it must’ve been a tunnel under the embankment for the Midland mainline connecting line with both track & embankment long gone.
*I rode my Yamaha 350cc Bike from Birstall to near Lutterworth in the early 80's Sadly no longer in a state to restore, and sizable section From Birstall (Leicester North) to Ruddington with a 'link' hopefully completed in the next 2/3 Years, being then the longest ex Main Line in the Country and passing through some fabulous Charnwood Scenery.*
another fab video Ant, as always
Thanks Martin much appreciated 🙂
Thanks for that Ant. I've walked along that part of the canal many times but didn't know about the viaduct. Will check out next time I'm down that way.
Thanks for watching. It's one that seems to have been forgotten about sadly 😌
Love the choices of music to go with your vides.
Thank you for watching and commenting too 🙂
The old G.C.R it's a unbelievable desuse railway loads of places has it ran through Leicestershire that you can see the remains of😉👍 like I said in my previous comment if I knowed you was here in whetstone I would of came say has I live only ten minutes away. Take care and stay safe kind regards Gary
I was looking into Leicestershire a bit more recently now the Local Lockdown as put that on hold.
Thanks for watching & commenting :)
*Drove along the M1 **-today-** yesterday from Lutterworth - A46 and remembered riding along the GC Line so long ago which ran alongside the M1 for a while.*
Fantastic looking structure! Very interesting video. 😎👍
Glad you enjoyed it thanks for watching :)
The next stretch of The great central Railway is where the Cul-de-sac I live in backs on to.
It’s called Central Close in whetstone.
I walked over the viaduct about 30 years ago, but I’ve not been back since.
My dad cleaned the steam trains when he was 15 at Rugby.
Great video!
Having followed in your auspicious footsteps I had to comment once more. The end you started at, between the mainline bridge and the viaduct, is now no longer accessible, it's completely blocked off with high grade fencing - I know because I tried to get through. The top of the viaduct is now even more overgrown but doable with care. Across the canal the line peters out until you reach Glen Parva and Glen Hill nature reserve, it then becomes a proper footpath (Great Central Way) right into Leicester.
Very interesting and informative video thank you
It seems criminal to me that an entire mainline railway which still had so much potential had it been used right was allowed to be closed down. The biggest single act of legal vandalism in British history
Not really. It was a duplicate line with next to no traffic which needed demolition.
When you think of all the man hours it took to make that gem of a railway - what a travesty
Another great video mate if I knew you was here in Leicester I would have meet up with you.
I'll be back eventually blooming local lockdown 😀🤣
Meet
Great little film. If you get to it maybe worth looking at more of the route. I quite going to the 'Woodford Halse' area and I maybe going there sometime soon and I will be taking my metal detector with me. Helmdon is good as there's some railway station remains to look at. I find the grand union canal interesting and I may walk bits of it sometime soon from somewhere like Leighton Buzzard. As you walk the grand union canal you can see in Wolvertern area the UK oldest railway works that's still standing and some of it is derelict it worth looking at with a drone.
I would like to do more of this line. It has all the history and nostalgia that anyone could ever wish for. Thanks for watching
Hey Ant. The small bridge missing the walls was most likely built with metal lattice work instead of brick so probably long since scrapped
That's one solid bit of kit. I suppose graffiti artists have to practice somewhere, shame though, but I can see past it. Just remembered why Whetstone rang a bell, it was home to Frank Whittles jet engine business. Cheers Ant, nicely done👍❤
Hi Bob. I had never seen so much graffiti. It's not like it's in the city centre it was rather quiet around
i have to say i wasnt overly bothered by the graffiti Ant a lot of it is shocking but i can sort of see a kinda of art form in its roughest sense..As for the video ..always great following your old railway walks espesh when theres a wonderful viaduct featured ...Keep up the great work mate...Frank & Lee...
I had never seen so much on anything before. This was a nice quiet area, i was 50 / 50 if to go up or not but i'm glad i did :)
Clean and maintain it up and lay some track on it.
It would be nice wouldn't it. Thank you for watching 😊
Great video Ant, I like your use of feet rather than metres too. Shame this could not be incorporated into as cycle path.
I've never really got out of the feet habit :)
Glad you enjoyed it. I can't see it ever becoming anything more now :(
It is and has been for 30 years bab xxx
I love the Great Central Railway. Have you enquired about getting on the Slater Street viaduct or use your drone? There is a signal pole still standing on it
Excellent video. Nicely controlled giving long steady shots for the viewer to contemplate without haste. You have a drone? Please take drone videos of the areas you couldn't walk - so I can see what remains of the track bed - and how far it goes at each end!? Thanks
Thank you Michael. I'll return for sure if there is a walkable section either side :)
Whetstone station opened 1963!!! Actually opened 8/3/1899, closed 4/3/1963. Obviously a little late to alter the video captions now. Great video all the same👍
If you go to first entrance of gcr walk way in Glen parva and go left in to wilderness of tree you can see some old small water bridges I got photos I can show
Given all those nettles I hope you weren't wearing shorts too!
3:10 - do you mean the station closed in 1963?
Wow that was fantastic. What a shame those pea brains did all that graffiti. It is so ugly. What little I saw of the bridge was just gorgeous. Well it sure didn’t stop me enjoying video. Thanks so much for taking me along. P,ease stay safe
It's a nice little hidden thing 😀
Thanks for coming along 😊
83 miles from me, not bad,,
I'll see if i can get a bit closer next time :) Thanks for watching :)
The great central railway are raising funds to re.open 18 miles of track.is this bridge included?
Sadly not 😔
Agree with some of the other comments, as long as graffiti isn't just wanton destruction I see it as a more modern art form. I image in 20-30 years time there'll be a guy doing a youtube video about the historic graffiti available in our outdoors ;)
Historic Graffita, that's an idea for someone :)
Thanks Ant, I don't know if these graffiti artists use rattle cans but the last time I bought one they were bloody expensive. Some of the stuff they create looks good but there just never seems to be a good location for it.
Yes it must cost them a bit, it must be good quality stuff to last like it does.
Thanks for watching 🙂
nice of them to cut back the bushes too
It is wired it’s called whetstone viaduct but canal up to classed as glen parva Canal
Another greatly presented video and researched well. Shame about the graffiti even though most of it is professional art but it’s put in the wrong place 🙁
Thanks very much for watching, the graffiti is the most i had ever seen anywhere
By the year 2000 most train bridges in Leicester we're covered in graffiti over the past 30 years most of the bridges in Leicester have been demolished.
This is glen hills and glen parva not Whetstone xxxx
Nice film, very informative.........shame about all that graffiti....!!
Glad you enjoyed it. That was a lot of Graffiti :(
The yobs that painted all the graphic shit , should be rounded up and chained together and made to clean it. Also they should be made to remove all the greenery as well. To me that sounds like a brilliant punishment to hand out to all the yobs of today !!
you can no longer walk on this land as its changed tenant who is keeping sheep, I hope they can swim as the field floods ...............
Oh blimey 😮 Glad I went last year
the graffiti is terrible
this worlds youngsters need to buck up